


Birthday Kisses

by papersandals (laronmi)



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alcohol, Birthday Party, Ensemble Cast, Forehead Kisses, Friendship, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Platonic Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-11-18 10:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18119264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laronmi/pseuds/papersandals
Summary: Yuri Lowell has a particular quirk where if he gets drunk on his birthday -- and only on his birthday -- he starts kissing pretty much anyone he knows. The kisses range from platonic forehead smooches to full on make outs, and it's just annoying and embarrassing enough for Yuri to avoid most celebrations people might hold for him on his birthday.It's too bad that he pissed Flynn off right before his twenty-third.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I finally played Vesperia and was not expecting to fall in love with it this much. How dare a ten year old game get to me like this. How dare.
> 
> Yuri turns twenty-two in a skit in the endgame. This story runs off the Definitive version, and I have no knowledge of the original Xbox 360 version of the game.

Yuri's twenty-second birthday was spent preparing for the daunting task of saving the world from an entity that could devour it.

Flynn knew this because he was there on that day, giving Yuri meaningful looks that made him irritable and grouchy right up until the point where he managed to ruin it for himself by muttering it aloud. The meager celebration that followed the same evening was entirely his fault, but the more substantial gathering the following night was all Flynn's idea. Even though he had been kicked out of cake baking duty by Judith and Patty, and even though he was left to find some sort of suitable present out in the burgeoning town of Aurnion at last minute because a monster had somehow swallowed their original present (Much less difficult than expected, thanks to Kaufman's superb eye for, well, anything and everything), Flynn could tell that Yuri had a good time, and that he was genuinely moved beneath the bluster and affected air of nonchalance. 

Now, in a changed world and being the man responsible for said world still existing, Yuri deserved a proper birthday celebration for his twenty-third. Something not extravagant, since Flynn actually wanted Yuri to have a good time instead of being embarrassed or frustrated. That meant containing it to the Lower Quarter. Fate had seen fit to have Yuri back in Zaphias with the rest of Brave Vesperia in the days leading up to his birthday, and Flynn had taken full advantage, plotting and planning with the rest of the guild and their other friends and contacts. The Comet, of course, was the ideal location for the celebration, and its small size meant that they had to keep the guest list down to only Yuri's closest companions.

Flynn didn't bother keeping it a secret, figuring that either Lady Estellise or someone else would make Yuri go if he protested, but as Yuri stormed into his office two days before his birthday (And through the front door at that, which was the first sign that something was wrong), Flynn wondered if it might have been easier on himself if he kept the birthday party a secret from Yuri after all.

"Don't you have enough to do," Yuri said without preamble. "There's no way that running the knights gives you this much free time."

He wasn't wrong, but Flynn wasn't about to just go and say it. "This isn't a burden, Yuri. If anything, it's a nice distraction from everything."

Yuri rolled his eyes and sat on the corner of Flynn's desk, crumpling some papers Flynn had set aside in the process. Flynn looked at them sadly, but he possessed enough foresight to know that asking Yuri to move would only cause more casualties. 

"You're the only person I know who would take on more work as a break from working. Seriously, Flynn, you don't need to do this."

Flynn looked up. From the way Yuri was sitting, he could only see his profile, but that was enough for him to know that Yuri was looking the other way. "Do you not want a party?"

"It doesn't matter if I want a party or not because you're all going to drag me there even if I didn't want to go." Yuri waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "Which means that anyone could have planned it. You don't have the time or energy to waste on something this pointless."

Ah, there was the self depreciation Flynn had been waiting for. He grabbed the few wrinkled sheets that Yuri weren't sitting on and smoothed them out. "I think you're underestimating my capabilities," he said, a touch more coldly than he meant to, because Yuri bristled and tensed as if insulted.

"Oh, I know you can handle it. I'm just saying you don't have to."

"I want to."

"You're wasting your time."

"You can't decide for me what's a waste of my time or not."

Yuri groaned and pushed himself off Flynn's desk, sending the papers he was sitting on fluttering to the ground.

"Patty better not be helping to bake the cake again," Yuri muttered, just low enough that Flynn had to strain to hear it.

"Why?" Flynn had indeed put Patty on baking duty again, along with Judith. "The cake they made last year was delicious."

Yuri sighed and crossed his arms, back still turned to Flynn. "The cake itself was fine, but she made some sort of miso frosting abomination that she wanted me to eat with the cake." Flynn watched Yuri shudder. "I have nightmares about it sometimes."

Flynn considered this. Miso was creamy. Frosting was creamy. Miso was a bit salty and—what was the word? Umami? But he'd read recipes where sugar was added to salty and savory meats to enhance flavor, and he knew Witcher ate watermelon with salt sprinkled on it.

"It actually sounds interesting," Flynn said. "I'd like to try it. They have the same texture, don't they?"

Yuri finally turned around to look at Flynn, and while the ghastly expression on his face wasn't what Flynn was hoping for, the fact that Yuri was  _ looking at him _ still counted as a win.

"Every time," Yuri said slowly, "I think it can't possibly get any worse, you surprise me."

"What?" When Yuri didn't answer, Flynn asked again, more agitated than the first time. "What?"

Yuri shook his head and made for the door. Flynn debated pursuing him, but as he decided that it wouldn't be worth either of their times to start an argument, Yuri stopped in front of the door and looked back.

"Really, Flynn, focus on your job. There's more important things for you to do than plan birthday parties for criminals."

"You've been pardoned," Flynn said automatically, and Yuri rolled his eyes and walked out the office.

When the door shut behind him, Flynn realized that despite Yuri's visit going about how Flynn had expected it to, it still felt as if Yuri had made it too easy for him. There was only reason why Flynn could see Yuri only putting up a token protest, and none of them boded well for Flynn himself.

He grit his teeth as he picked up the papers on the floor. Whatever Yuri was planning, Flynn would work around it and finish planning Yuri's birthday celebration. Even with Yuri's talent at causing trouble, there would be no way he could interfere so much with Flynn's day to day that the party's plans would be derailed. Not unless he got arrested, at least.

"Gods," Flynn murmured as he collected the papers and put them, along with his head, on his desk. "Don't do anything too stupid, Yuri."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing keeps getting bigger than I anticipated, but I am determined (DETERMINED) to keep it at three chapters.

Yuri, as far as Flynn knew, didn't do anything too stupid for the rest of the day. A good thing, because in the short span of a few hours, it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong did. 

Despite technically having the day off, Flynn was called to help with an investigation shortly after Yuri left. An anonymous tip had been left behind that Melron Mining, a fledgling mining operation run by the head of House Melron, had been not only falsifying their ledger numbers for the eight months they'd been in operation, but were also guilty of using child labor in their distant Yurzorean mines. The investigation of the mines had to be planned and signed off by Flynn before a team could be assembled, and Flynn also personally drafted the warrant and led a team to search Melron Manor. What ensued was chaos, for one of the maids was caught burning papers in Lord Melron's office not even two minutes into the investigation, and in the argument that followed (In which Lord Melron adamantly insisted that burning papers in a poorly ventilated office filled with wood furniture was not to be considered suspicious, and how dare Flynn make such accusations), Lord Melron's second youngest son ran in, shouting about how the fake ledgers weren't ready yet.

That should have closed the case, but between Lord Melron trying to send messages to his friends on the council behind Flynn's back, the maid who was having an inconsolable cry into the ashes of the main evidence to the crime, and Melron's fool son who tried to pull a sword on the knights, the best Flynn could do was to arrest the maid and the son and summon Lord Melron for questioning first thing the next morning.

Then he got word that one of the public quarter restaurants was caught using paper as a filler ingredient for their meatloaf. A small but very persistent mob had formed outside the restaurant as a result.

So Flynn went off to quell the crowd alone, sending Sodia to ovesee wrapping up the Melron case for the day. By the time he arrived, a sizable crowd had gathered to watch the five people mob shout obscenities towards the restaurant, which had smartly locked all of their doors and drew curtains over their windows. As mobs and angry yelling were a much honored tradition in all cities, it was inevitable that practically the entirety of Zaphias had shown up to watch the show. In the time it took Flynn to push past the crowd, someone had heckled the small mob enough that one of the five had started trying to set the building on fire. It took Flynn using every scrap of his authoritative Commandant presence to convince the mob to disband. Convincing the crowd to disperse afterward was considerably more difficult.

When Flynn finally got back to the palace in the evening, he found a knight standing in the courtyard, looking more uncomfortable than Flynn had seen anyone act all day. With great hesitation, the knight alerted him to the fact that Yuri Lowell had decided to buy a round of drinks for the various citizens of the public and lower quarters for a night of sharing scandalous stories about Flynn's youth.

It took all of Flynn's meager self control that remained to stop himself from marching down and strangling Yuri. Instead, he thanked the knight and did what was possible the meanest thing he'd done to Yuri in almost a year.

He sent Sodia after him.

With the caveat that she wouldn't arrest Yuri unless he actually did something illegal, of course. Sodia had agreed (Perhaps a little too readily) to put Yuri in his place, and Flynn trudged up to his room to write a few quick reports and then maybe grab a bite of dinner before going to bed.

Lady Estellise was waiting for him outside his suite.

"Oh, Flynn," she said when he drew near, hands clasped in front of her chest in concern, "I heard about what happened with Lord Melron."

"Ah, yes," Flynn said, trying not to show his exasperation with the latter part of his day too much. "I was hoping that the nobility would have learned better by now, but I suppose it was too naive of me to assume so much had changed so soon."

Lady Estellise shook her head. "No, I think it's wonderful that you have such faith, but, um. That's not why I wanted to talk to you about it."

She was worrying her bottom lip, which was something she only did when feeling guilty. "What is it?" Flynn asked, suddenly wary.

"I—" she began, then sighed and dropped her hands. "I'm sorry, Flynn. I should have told you myself, but Yuri said he would take care of it. I thought he was going straight to you so you two could work something out, not leave a note in the knights' barracks with a dagger sticking out of it on your day off."

"What," Flynn said flatly. "Yuri left the tip?"

Lady Estellise looked down. "Yes. At least, I'm almost certain it was him, since I can't see anyone else in Brave Vesperia doing that."

"If you don't mind," Flynn said, his mental reserves suddenly feeling like they were caught in a whirlpool, "could I ask you to start from the beginning?"

He and Lady Estellise ended up in his suite, sitting at his small dining table with some food brought up by the palace maids. Over some light fare and herbal tea, she explained to Flynn how a few rumors in Dahngrest about missing children led to Brave Vesperia being hired to investigate, which led to them finding about the illegal operations of the Melron Mines, which then led to them running into a proverbial brick wall when no actual evidence could be shown proving that Lord Melron knew what was happening with his mines. 

"There were no records of anything," Lady Estellise said, worrying her empty tea cup in her hands. "The management was very...cluttered, and it was believable that they were so bad at keeping records and communicating that no one really knew what was going on. Brave Vesperia was only hired to find and bring the children home, and no one wanted to press the issue."

"Yuri didn't stand for that."

"Of course he didn't. I don't really know much of what happened beyond that, since I only tagged along in case the children were injured, but Yuri was in a very foul mood." She paused, and set the cup back onto the saucer with a soft  _ tink _ . "That's the real reason why he came back to Zaphias."

It figured that fate wouldn't have been that generous with Flynn. "So he's been trying to gather information on Lord Melron on his own, and when he found enough, he left a message."

"Yes... Kind of. Um, I don't think he actually found definitive proof, but for some reason today he insisted on taking action."

Flynn remained silent for a few seconds as he came to the inevitable conclusion of Yuri's actions.

"I am going to strangle him," he said with a calm he did not feel, and got up.   


"No, Flynn, you can't!" Lady Estellise shouted, standing as well and leaning over the table to grab his arms. "A-at least not until his birthday is over! Think of all the hard work that everyone's—" 

She inhaled sharply as she cut her own words off, letting go of Flynn in the process. That was even more concerning than the multitude of things Flynn wanted to yell at Yuri for, and he put a pause on his indignation long enough to give her a concerned look.

"Lady Estellise? Everything all right?"

She had her mouth covered so that her expression couldn't be seen in full, yet the distress in her eyes was obvious. "Mmmhmm," she nodded, and Flynn shook his head.

"Forgive me for not believing you, but you hardly look all right to me. What's wrong? Did Yuri do something he told you not to tell me?"

She shook her head in response, but she wasn't looking at him either.

"Lady Estellise, please."

"It doesn't have anything to do with Yuri," she said, voice muffled by the hand still covering her mouth. "It's really nothing at all, just a little update on party planning, and—"

"Lady Estellise," Flynn said with his softest yet firmest tone of voice. Her shoulders fell with a slump and she dropped her hands.

"Patty decided to go hunting for some secret ingredient," she said, "and took her ship out with a few of her crew yesterday morning. She said she'd be back by lunchtime today, but she didn't show up at all. Then we heard that some people spotted a lot of flying monster activity in the ocean west of us, so Judy and Karol went on Ba'ul to see if anything was amiss."

The whirlpool feeling was back and swirling faster than ever. "When did they leave?"

"Only about four hours ago." Lady Estellise walked around the table and put a gentle hand on his arm. "It's okay, Flynn. I'm sure they're fine and will be back tomorrow. You don't have to take responsibility for this too."

"But," Flynn said weakly, "the cake."

He wasn't certain what kind of expression he was making, but if Lady Estellise's own expression was anything to go by, it was bad.

"Really, Flynn, it'll be all right. They're all capable fighters, and if they don't make it back in time, I'll bake the cake. Rita's coming tomorrow, so she can handle the decorations and invitations in my place. It'll be fine!"

"I can dispatch the navy," Flynn said. "If the monster activity is so great that it can be seen from shore—"

"Let's wait on that, okay?" Lady Estellise said, and she guided him back into his room. Huh. Strange. When had he left it? "Judith is going. I'm sure she'll be able to take care of anything the navy could. Besides, Patty is plenty capable on her own."

"Even so, there's only one day left before Yuri's party, and no one has picked up Captain— Raven—"

"It'll be all right, Flynn," she said, pushing him towards his bed. "Rita will be here tomorrow, and I'm sure Judith and Karol will return with Patty as well. There will be plenty of time for them to pick up Raven after that."

"But—"

"Flynn, you really ought to get some sleep." Lady Estellise was giving him a pleading, doe eyed look. "Please. It's been a busy day, and you've already done so much work planning this party. Let us take over, okay?"

He was tired, but there were still things he needed to do. "I still need to yell at Yuri."

"You can do that tomorrow, after you've slept," she said, backing out of his room. "Now please get some rest. Good night, Flynn!"

"Good night, Lady Estellise," he replied back. He sat on his bed once she was gone and allowed the whirlpool to drain a little before getting ready for bed. She was right. They had time. Flynn could handle all of his official affairs, get Patty any support she needed, and yell at Yuri before the party.

"This isn't even that bad," Flynn said to himself, then closed his eyes and went to sleep.

If he dreamed about taking Yuri's birthday cake (Oddly adorned with a whole, uncooked fish) and slamming it into Yuri's smug, handsome face, well, no one needed to know that but him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't finish this in three chapters. I have disappointed no one but myself. 
> 
> This is actually the second version of this chapter! A scrapped version will be linked at the end of this chapter, for those who want to read it. Because I had written so much of the first version, the ending to this chapter is a bit rushed. Honestly, I think I'm just to get to the end (And the good part) by this point.

Flynn woke up at dawn feeling decently well rested and filled with purpose. He mentally composed a to-do list as he washed and shaved, and by the time he had pulled on his pants, felt like he was ready to take on all of the tasks that he wanted to for the day.  
  
His plans were crushed mere seconds later when Yuri stumbled into his room through the window next to Flynn's bed.   
  
"What—" Flynn said, only one arm into his shirt. "Yuri, what are you doing here so early?!"  
  
"Ugh," Yuri said in response, and Flynn took in his rumpled clothing, the slump in his shoulders, and his grumpy countenance. "Guess which pink haired princess decided to wake me up before the sun rose so she could lecture me about how much more work and stress I'm causing you."  
  
"She's not wrong."  
  
"Yeah," Yuri said, kicking off his boots and — to Flynn's dismay — scattering them into two different parts of Flynn's room, "but I'm always causing you more work and stress."  
  
"So good of you to acknowledge that," Flynn said with a lot of sarcasm and a little weariness. "I doubt that you're here to apologize."  
  
"You'd be right," Yuri said, then looked at Flynn's bed meaningfully before turning to the opposite side of Flynn's suite, where the door was. "How many rumors do you think would start if I left your room first thing in the morning to go into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee?"  
  
"Entirely too many," Flynn said, finally getting his shirt on all the way. "I can call up some coffee instead."  
  
Yuri yawned and then face planted himself onto Flynn's bed. "Nah, don't bother the maids for that. I'm just going to nap...right here."  
  
Flynn threw his tabard over his head as Yuri sprawled out over his bed, limbs askew and face buried in one of Flynn's pillows. "No, you aren't," Flynn said as he smoothed out the cloth before glaring at Yuri's back. "The maids will be here in a hour or so, and I don't even want to imagine the gossip that will start when they find you in my bed."  
  
Yuri let out a muffled sigh and squirmed on the bed, wrinkling the comforter and agitating Flynn's mood even more. "Why do you even let the maids come into your room? You don't need them, you neat freak."  
  
"Today is the day they launder the sheets," Flynn said, forgoing grabbing his pauldrons in exchange for grabbing Yuri by the shoulders. "Stop moving around! You're messing up the covers!"  
  
Yuri paused just long enough for Flynn to tighten his grip, and then retaliated by writhing so fast and with such force that he nearly got Flynn to let go. Flynn didn't, however, and instead got onto the bed as Yuri squirmed and messed up the comforter and sheets, kneeling over him and trying his hardest to hold Yuri down and keep him still.  
  
"Would you stop," he yelled, then risked reaching for the pillow Yuri wasn't on top of. "I just made that."  
  
"I don't—" Yuri began, then let out an oof as Flynn slammed a pillow against the back of his head, "understand why you're so uptight about making the bed when they're just going to—" Flynn hit him another time, and Yuri lifted his head enough for him to grab the remaining pillow from under him, "take everything off and remake it!"  
  
Yuri punctuated his sentence by twisting over and wailing on Flynn with the pillow, and Flynn hit him back two more times in return.  
  
"Some people—" he said, dodging one of Yuri's attempts and then deciding to just sit on Yuri to make him stop moving, "—prefer to not live in rooms that look like they've been ransacked recently!"  
  
He smacked Yuri right in the face, and Yuri growled before throwing Flynn's pillow to the side and reaching up to grab his tabard. "That doesn't even make sense. And," he said as Flynn let go of the pillow to try and pry his hands off, "you've been in my room. It isn't that messy!"  
  
"Maybe not anymore," Flynn said, going for low and grabbing a fistful of Yuri's hair, although he refrained from pulling, "but I remember what sharing a room with you was like, and you certainly don't have any regard for other people's space now!"  
  
Yuri grabbed Flynn's face and stuck a thumb into his mouth, pulling it to the side. Flynn yanked on his hair in return.  
  
"Real mature," Yuri grunted, letting go of Flynn's tabard in exchange for punching him in the side, "Commandant Scifo."  
  
"Get off my bed," Flynn said, but with the way Yuri was stretching his mouth, it came out garbled. "I swear, Yuri—"  
  
Whatever Flynn was going to swear was lost when he heard the door open. Immediately, the two of them turned towards the door, tensing and then relaxing when Repede's front paws clicked on the ground. He glanced at them, huffed while he shook his head, then walked in, kicking the door shut with his hind legs. He laid down in front of Flynn's couch and gave them a judgmental look with his single eye before closing it and curling in on himself.  
  
Flynn felt Yuri's hold on his face slacken, and he responded in kind, letting out a sigh and starting to untangle his hand from Yuri's locks. Just as Yuri was starting to pull his thumb out of Flynn's mouth, however, the door opened again.  
  
"Sir," a knight bellowed, "there's a dog— Oh."  
  
Flynn looked at the knight. The helmet covered up any sort of expression they might have been making, but Flynn knew well enough what it looked like. Yuri still had part of his thumb in Flynn's mouth, and the rest of that hand was cupping Flynn's cheek. Flynn himself had one hand pushing Yuri down, and the other hand was in Yuri's hair. Then there was the fact that Flynn was  _sitting on top of Yuri_  while the bed looked like there had been an entirely different sort of tussle going on.  
  
Yuri waved to the knight with the hand that had been punching Flynn in the side not five seconds ago. "Yo."  
  
"I— I beg your pardon very much, sir," the knight said, snapping to a salute. "Forgive me for intruding! I will be the very heart of discretion, sir!"  
  
"No, no, it's not what it looks like," Flynn tried to say, but Yuri's damn thumb was still in his mouth. He spat it out, ignoring Yuri's quiet sound of disgust, and sat up straight, inadvertently pressing his crotch closer to Yuri's. "It's not what it looks like."  
  
"I will keep this secret to my grave, sir," the knight said, backing out of the room at a generous pace. "Er. Enjoy your morning."   
  
With that, he sped out of the room, slamming Flynn's door closed behind him. The sound of his armor clanking down the hall at triple speed echoed into Flynn's room until it could no longer be heard.  
  
Flynn and Yuri remained frozen for a few seconds after that before Yuri patted Flynn on the thigh. "See," he said, sounding not at all bothered by what had happened, "you should've just let me go make coffee."  
  
Flynn covered his face and groaned, then rolled to the side and laid down on his back on top of the wrinkled comforter next to Yuri. "This is going to get all over the palace by lunchtime."  
  
"Good. Then no one will think I'm trespassing if I go into the kitchens for some food."  
  
Flynn tried to punch Yuri, but it was a feeble attempt and Yuri easily blocked it, grabbing Flynn's wrist while giving him a cheeky grin.  
  
"And, hey," Yuri continued as Flynn glared at him, "that means I don't have to leave when the maids get here."  
  
Flynn grimaced and pulled his wrist out of Yuri's grasp. "You're still going to get off my bed. I need to remake it, and I'm already running late."  
  
"At least you won't need to come up with an excuse as to why you're late."  
  
Yuri's grin grew wider as Flynn kicked him. Flynn kicked him again when he realized that Yuri had managed to successfully distracted him enough to prevent him from yelling at Yuri as well.  
  
"Nap on the couch if you have to," Flynn said, getting up and out of his bed so that he could finally start putting on his armor and straighten out the sheets and comforter enough to make it look somewhat presentable and not nearly as scandalous. "Don't terrorize the maids when they come in. I'll be back at noon to yell at you."  
  
"What," Yuri said sarcastically as he rolled out of the bed as well, "do you have that penciled in your schedule for today?"  
  
"Yes, actually," Flynn said, and it was only partially a lie. It had been put in his mental schedule, and he would have written it down if Yuri hadn't shown up.   
  
"I'm insulted and flattered at the same time," Yuri muttered, then walked over to Flynn's couch and fell into it. "I'll be here until then," he said into the couch, and then fell silent and still.  
  
Flynn huffed and then proceeded to ignore him until he finished putting on all the pieces of his armor. The task was made significantly easier by the fact that Yuri had actually fallen asleep again, proven when Flynn laid a blanket on him without getting even a twitch in response.  
  
He spent a few seconds staring at Yuri's sleeping form, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, the way his face was so relaxed in deep sleep, and how his sleeping position hadn't changed much at all since they were children. It was oddly nostalgic, watching Yuri sleep in the same way that he had been since childhood despite the all the other changes that had occurred. It was an intersection of the past and the present that gave Flynn hope about not only the future of Terca Lumireis, but also hope about the two of them as well.  
  
Whatever would happen, Flynn wouldn't give up on Yuri. And no matter how much things changed, Yuri trusted Flynn. That he was deeply asleep on Flynn's couch was proof of that.  
  
Flynn breathed in deeply, realizing too late the phantom pressure on his heart. It was a warm weight on his chest that came and went when he thought too much about Yuri, and while he knew its name, he refused to address it as such. It was, however, a sure sign that he needed to leave before he did something even too sentimental for him, and he turned away from Yuri only to find Repede sitting in front of the door, tail wagging slowly and sweeping the doorway when he saw Flynn looking at him.  
  
"Do you want to accompany me for a while?" Flynn asked him, reaching down to give him a scritch behind the ears. "Leave Yuri behind to the mercies of the maids?"  
  
Repede woofed gently and butted Flynn's hand gently with his head. Flynn laughed. "All right. Let's go. I'm afraid it's going to be mostly logistics for the first half of today."  
  
Repede did the equivalent of a shrug and then turned around to open the door for them. Flynn closed it behind them and led the way, greeting the various knights and staff of the castle and smiling when they did a double take at Repede walking faithfully at his side.  
  
Repede, in fact, was the most eventful part of his early morning meetings. The first part of his morning was routine — inspections of the barracks, receiving reports from the captains, and submitting reports to the council and His Majesty. Throughout these meetings, Repede sat or lay near him, and the reactions of people around Flynn added some much needed excitement into his day. Spring was still a few weeks away, but the snow in Zaphias had melted and stayed away for a week, which meant it was time to recount the supplies of grains and preserved meats, calculate how long it would take for the spring crops to bear fruit, and recalculate the rations of the troops in case a last minute freeze came around.   
  
Repede was helpful in that regard, choosing just the right time to get up and stretch, yawning widely and showing off his large, sharp fangs when one nobleman dared to suggest cutting off some of the rations to the lower quarter for emergency storage. Between Flynn's unyielding glare and Repede's fangs, he fell silent before he finished his statement, effectively cutting off that idea before it had time to even take root.  
  
With those meetings down, Repede followed Flynn to interrogate Lord Melron. That, unfortunately, did proceed quite as smoothly. While Lord Melron's son could be easily charged, Lord Melron himself had managed to pull in enough favors and provide enough obfuscation to make it difficult to pin down his crimes. His maid, he claimed, was crying because she burnt some sentimental letters by accident while handling a candle; she was clumsy and over emotional. His son, he said, had a poor memory and was prone to delusion; his word could not be trusted. The ledgers, he professed, did not exist because the operators he had hired overseas were incompetent; he was infuriated by their failures and would investigate.  
  
He provided Flynn with signed statements from his other servants discussing his maid's clumsiness; all of them read eerily similarly to one another. He pulled out a doctor's note confirming his son's delusions; it was so new that Flynn could still smell the in. He offered to help personally escort some of the knights overseas to Yurzorea and investigate the mines; Flynn recognized a trap when he saw one.  
  
In the end, Lord Melron was let go with a hefty fine, and Flynn was left only with a warrant that allowed him to send in a full investigation team to the mines on his own terms. Lord Melron walked free from the interrogation room with a smirk, and Flynn stomped back to his office with cold fury settling in his gut. Repede stuck close to his side, grounding him and offering him what comfort he could. It helped Flynn power through making his plans, privately giving instructions to send a small team that had been ready to leave since yesterday evening while writing up a more public sort of declaration for a larger team to be sent out a week later.  
  
Reports, schedules, and letters had to be written after that, and by the time noon had rolled around, he felt calm enough again to leave his office and return to his suite. A large part of him knew that Yuri wouldn't have stuck around, but there was a small, hopeful part of him that hoped that Yuri would be there, that Yuri would understand that it was important for the two of them to talk about things like calm, rational adults.  
  
Flynn took a deep breath in front of his door, readying himself for disappointment. Repede sat next to him, ears angled just a little bit lower than usual, and Flynn took it as a sign that Yuri had indeed hightailed it out of the palace.   
  
Which was why when Flynn opened his door, he was pleasantly surprised to find a body-shaped lump covered in blankets on the couch, a few strands of silken black hair poking out from the top. Flynn exhaled, filled with the sudden relief that maybe they could have that calm, adult conversation he was hoping for, and then entered the room with a chuckle.   
  
"Are you still sleeping," Flynn said quietly, not actually ready to wake Yuri up yet. "How late were you up last night?"  
  
He began to unbuckle his gauntlets, wanting them off for lunch, when he noticed something strange. Repede was still by the door, ears drooping, and let out an apologetic whine. Flynn looked over at the lump again and watched it for a few seconds.  
  
The lump wasn't moving. Cautiously, he approached it and poked it. There was no resistance.  
  
Temper rapidly rising, Flynn yanked the blankets off the lump. Beneath them were an assortment of pillows and bunched up clothes, roughly shaped into a human-like form. The black hair that had been poking out was, unbelievably, a wig.  
  
"Where the hell did he get a wig from?!" Flynn yelled at the deceptive lump. "Damn it, Yuri!"  
  
Repede whined again, trotting up to Flynn and picking up a folded scrap of paper that had fallen out of the lump when Flynn yanked the blankets off. Flynn took it, opened it up, and found scrawled on it in Yuri's distinctive handwriting:  
  
"Haha, tricked you! Going to help escort Rita from Halure. Don't wait up.   
  
PS: The maids totally think we're sleeping together. Didn't bother correcting them since they were loud gossips and interrupted my nap."  
  
Flynn's grip on the paper had tightened so much that it tore. He took a deep breath and then calmly shredded the note into strips before tossing them into the trash can.  
  
"Repede," he said, "I'm going to kill him."  
  
Repede barked in reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter originally was almost 6K words before I realized that it didn't fit the tone I wanted for the story. I scrapped it close to the end, but had just enough fondness for certain parts that I posted it. The first half of that version is essentially 90% of this chapter. It's also a lot more serious in tone and mood.
> 
> For those interested in reading the mess, it can be found at: <https://eccentricity.dreamwidth.org/11149.html>


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else ever have one of those moments where they've been working on something for a while, and while the premise was good, the execution failed to match? And while you know you should take the time to slow down, make it better, you're also kind of done with it and ready to just throw it to the wolves and let other people deal with the consequences of your choices, because at this point your attitude towards the thing is like your attitude towards someone who moved all your furniture while you were sleeping and you get dressed in the dark, except this morning someone asshat moved all your furniture and you can't find your pants and you just walked into a chair for the eighth time in twenty minutes and if you find the person responsible you're gonna punch 'em in the face.
> 
> Anyone else? No? Just me? Okay then.
> 
> This chapter is nearly twice as long as all the other chapters combined. I'm not sorry. I also edited this and posted it on my phone instead of my computer, so there may be more errors than usual. I am sorry about that.

The day of Yuri's birthday, Flynn went through everything he needed to do with razor sharp focus. He had blocked off several hours from his work day before the fated party to help prepare, but given the events that had unfolded the day before, he was hoping to be able to finish just a little bit early to find time to corner Yuri.  
  
It didn't happen. Flynn finished his tasks early enough, but when he went in search of Yuri, Rita and Lady Estellise both told him that Yuri had gone off on an errand for Hanks.  
  
"He just wanted Yuri out of our hair so we could actually get stuff done," Rita said, holding a large bag of miscellaneous decorations and ingredients that Lady Estellise had bought. "It's just busy work, and he promised us Yuri would be back by the party."  
  
"Huh," Flynn said, scratching his head. "What kind of errand?"  
  
"Hanks told Yuri to look for a part for the Comet's oven," Lady Estellise said, dropping a few coins into a vendor's hand in exchange for a large bag of sugar. "The oven's fine," she added as she put the sugar into the bag Rita was carrying. "We can still bake the cake, but Hanks had the mistress of the Comet pretend it wasn't to get Yuri away."  
  
And Yuri did know better than to ignore Astrid. She had a terrifying temper and a mean left hook that left impressions on the both of them.  
  
"Thank goodness for that," Rita said with a huff, adjusting the bag to compensate for the weight of the sugar. "I don't know what's wrong with him today, but he was seriously starting to get on my nerves."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure he was just embarrassed that we're doing so much for him. Rita, do you want some help with that?"  
  
Lady Estellise approached her without waiting for an answer, and Rita handed the bag over with a sigh of relief. "Geeze, Estelle, do we really need all that?"  
  
"It has to be a big cake," Lady Estellise said, struggling to find a way to carry the bag comfortably. "Oof. This is bulky. Maybe we should have gotten two bags..."  
  
"Here," Flynn said, taking the bag out of her arms. "Allow me."  
  
The bag was absurdly large, but Flynn managed. Lady Estellise smiled at him in thanks. Next to her, Rita huffed and put her hands on her waist.   
  
"Well, you might as well help us decorate," Rita said. "Estelle's going to be baking the cake since Patty, Judith, and Karol still aren't back yet."  
  
"Still?" Flynn frowned as they walked back down to the lower quarter. "Are you sure we don't need to send them assistance?"  
  
"Knowing Patty and Judith, they're probably distracted with fighting or treasure or something else stupid. I actually feel bad for Karol more than anyone else," Rita said. "They'll be fine."  
  
"If you say so," Flynn said, and then an idea popped into his head. "If that's the case, why don't I make the cake instead, then? I'm afraid that I'm don't have the best eye for decor."  
  
Lady Estellise tripped and nearly fell, but Rita caught her just in time. "Um," she said, clinging to Rita's arm. "I...don't think that's necessary."  
  
Flynn had nearly dropped the bag when she tripped, but once he saw she was fine, he tightened his grip. "Why not? Baking a cake can't be that difficult."  
  
"It's really all right, Flynn," Lady Estellise said. "I can bake the cake! I've been practicing! I— I like baking, really!"  
  
"But surely—"  
  
"No," Rita said, glaring at Flynn. "I forbid it."  
  
He tried his best to not be irritated, but the last few days had been irritating. "I'll follow the recipe to the letter, I swear it. Lady Estellise," he said, turning to her and giving her a pleading look, "please."  
  
"Nope." Rita took Lady Estellise's hand and tugged, but she didn't follow. She gently let go of Rita and took a step towards Flynn.  
  
"You promise you won't deviate from the recipe?"  
  
Rita shouted her disbelief, drawing the attention of the people around them. Flynn stood straight and put his hand over his heart as best he could with the bag.   
  
"I swear it on my life."  
  
"This is stupid," Rita muttered.  
  
"A-all right," Lady Estellise said. "But you must swear to not deviate even a little bit! Even if you think something could be added to improve the cake, you must not do it."  
  
"I will not do anything to alter the cake," Flynn swore. Rita rolled her eyes.  
  
"Rest in peace, all of us," she said under her breath, and then dragged Lady Estellise down the hill.   
  
Flynn followed them at a more sedate pace, and when he arrived at the Comet, he found them rolling out a long piece of parchment where Lady Estellise had written "Happy Birthd" on it. Rita gave him the stink eye as he unloaded the non-cake baking supplies from the bag he was carrying, then went into the kitchen.  
  
The Comet's kitchen was a small, cramped space, yet Astrid kept it neat and tidy. Someone had kindly left the recipe for the cake behind on the counter, and Flynn read through it twice before starting to gather the ingredients.  
  
Tempting as it was to just let loose and do what he wanted, the cake was to be eaten by everyone at the party, and Flynn remembered vividly the reactions of the judges to his cooking during that absurd cooking competition. Yuri's advice that people would appreciate Flynn's cooking more if he left the seasoning up to them still stayed with him.  
  
He weighed and measured flour and sugar meticulously, grabbed eggs and set them into a bowl, poured out various extracts and put them all into their own containers, and them set them aside. The ingredients for the cake itself went to one side of the counter, while the frosting went to another.   
  
The frosting, however, gave him problems. The recipe itself was a template, and there were additions meant to be added to the base frosting to give it color. He looked over the list, realizing that neither light pink nor baby blue fit Yuri very well at all, but the recipe had offered no suggestions on how to create darker colored frosting. Flynn also thought that beets and crushed flowers boiled in milk would ruin any sort of sugary concoction, and so he stood for a few minutes looking around the kitchen for something else that could work.  
  
Yuri was fond of darker colors like dark purple or black. Eggplant skins were purple, but there were none to be found. There was, however, black pepper. It might end up more gray than black, but it would still suit Yuri better than spring green.  
  
He grabbed the grinder and ground out a generous amount into the bowl. He then grabbed a bag of fine ground sugar and the sifter, intending to sift the two together.  
  
Flynn got as far as scooping out a little bit of sugar into the sifter before the door slammed open.  
  
"Oh, good," Judith said, an ominously radiant smile directed at Flynn. "We've made it in time."  
  
"Aye," Patty said from behind her, grunting with exertion as she carried a live, squirming fish in both of her arms. "Was worried for a bit we'd be later than turtles hatching in a sudden summer cold wave."  
  
Flynn got distracted gaping at the giant fish in Patty's arms. It was nearly as large as she was, scales glittering black and blue, and it flopped and writhed with something that could be described only as hatred.  
  
"Are you going to put that on the cake," he said weakly to Patty, the dream he had two nights ago suddenly fresh in his memories. He watched Judith and Patty exchange a look, and before he knew it, Judith had grabbed one of his arms and was forcefully pulling him towards the door.  
  
"Ocean's salty butthole, Flynn," Patty said as she nonchalantly tossed the fish onto what little free space there was on the countertops. "I know ye got some weird tastes, but fish on a cake?"  
  
"No," Flynn said in protest as he tried and failed to resist Judith. "I didn't mean it like that!"  
  
"You must be tired," Judith said in a sweet, terrifying sort of way. "Why don't you just leave this to us, hmm?"  
  
She pushed him through the door and slammed it shut.   
  
"I know not to put fish on a cake," Flynn shouted. He flushed when he realized that Karol, Rita, and Lady Estellise had paused in their decorating to stare at him.  
  
"I told you," Rita said at last, hanging a streamer haphazardly over a nail. "Hey, Karol, hand me some more of those, would you?"  
  
Karol grumbled, but he did hand Rita more streamers. "You can't just let them hang all droopy like that. They're meant to be pinned on each side."  
  
Rita shrugged and threw some more on the nail. "It's Yuri. Do you think he'd care?"  
  
Flynn sighed and walked over Lady Estellise, who was on top of a small step ladder and struggling to hang one corner of the banner to the ceiling. "Would you like any assistance?"  
  
"Yes, please," she said, climbing down and handing him the banner. "You're taller than I am, so maybe you'd be able to reach."  
  
He helped hang up the banner before he noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Captain— Raven? Did he get sent with Yuri?"  
  
Karol dropped the sack of streamers, sending them spilling out all over the floor. "Crap! No! Crapcrapcrap! Oh, no! We forgot to pick him up!"  
  
"You...forgot?" Flynn asked.  
  
Karol clutched his head. "Yeah, we forgot! We got so busy dealing with those bird monsters, and then Patty made us fish forever, and then we worried we were going to be late, so we totally forgot about Raven!"  
  
"Is he still in Dahngrest, then?" Rita asked, not looking particularly worried.   
  
"Yes! Crap! Judith!" Karol yelled, and then he ran into the kitchen. "Judith! We've got a big problem!"  
  
"If you need someone to take over baking the cake—"  
  
"No," Rita said. She threw a candle at Flynn. He caught it despite his surprise and found Rita glaring at him. "You're not allowed on cake duty!"  
  
"Rita, be nice," Lady Estellise said. She then turned to Flynn and said, "But I do agree. Judith's probably in the middle of it now."  
  
"But, the Captain—"  
  
"It's all right," Judith said, poking her head out the kitchen as Karol ran out of it. "I've spoken with Ba'ul. He said he'll be happy to take Karol along to pick up Raven."  
  
Karol began gathering his things, shoving them into his giant bag. "Are you sure it's going to be okay? I've never gone on Ba'ul alone before."  
  
"He knows you and trusts you like any other member of Brave Vesperia," Judith said. "Now I've got to go back to the cake. Good luck, Karol!"  
  
"Yeah," Karol said weakly. "Good luck to me..."  
  
He managed to sling his bag over his shoulder when the door to the Comet swung open, Yuri and Repede climbing the stairs.  
  
"I swear, that old busybody sent me running around the city for no reason," he muttered angrily. "Is the oven even broken?"  
  
Three people spoke at the same time.  
  
"It was good while it lasted," Rita muttered under her breath.  
  
"Yuri! We need to go pick up Raven!" Karol shouted.  
  
"We need to talk," Flynn said.  
  
Yuri looked at Flynn, then Rita, then at Karol. "All right, Boss, let's go get Raven," he said, then turned and left the Comet, Repede faithfully following at his heels.  
  
"Yuri," Flynn shouted. Karol gave him a startled look, but that didn't stop him from following after. Flynn thought of following after them, gave up on the idea, and settled instead for sighing loudly and picking up the fallen streamers.  
  
"Soooo," Rita said after a few moments of silence, "guess he did something to piss you off again?"  
  
"That's putting it lightly," Flynn said through gritted teeth. He put the streamers on a table and bowed an apology to Lady Estellise. "I'm sorry. I need to go for a walk."  
  
"That's fine," she said, hands clasped in front of her in concern. "Do what you need to do, Flynn. I'm sure that Yuri will talk to you at some point."  
  
"Thank you," he said, genuinely feeling bad about having to leave them to the preparations for a while. "I'll be back."  
  
He took a stroll around the lower quarter, greeting the people there with a smile on his face he did not feel. Anger, frustration, and a whole lot of spite were racing around in his mind, and nothing he tried stopped it. At best, he just managed to tamper it down. Eventually, he made his way back to the Comet, feeling less immediate anger, but still frustrated. He dawdled outside for a moment, and that was all it took for Hanks to find him.  
  
"Flynn!" Hanks said. "Good to see you, my boy. How's everything going for Yuri's birthday celebration tonight?"  
  
"As well as can be expected," Flynn said, trying not to sigh. "You'll be coming, of course?"  
  
Hanks laughed and clapped a calloused hand on his shoulder. "Wouldn't miss it for the world! I got some nice wine saved up, but I'm guessing Yuri wouldn't appreciate that much, would he? He's still not drinking on his birthday?"  
  
The wheels of Flynn's mind screeched to a shuddering halt before starting up again. "He didn't partake last year, but we also didn't have access to any."  
  
"Huh," Hanks said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes before facing the bright afternoon soon. "A shame. It's to be expected, given how prickly he is normally, but it's nice to be able to tell him how much we appreciate him without him getting all defensive about it. The kissing I could take or leave, but I know some of the younger folk were sad when he stopped, haha!"  
  
"Haha," Flynn said. There was an awful, terrible, horrible thought plodding its way through his head. The wheels drove forward, unearthing memories that Flynn swore to keep buried, but the idea was too tempting to pass up. "You know, now that you mention it, Yuri did say something about how he wouldn't mind have a few bottles of alcohol for gifts. I thought he meant for drinking later, but with what he's been—"   
  
Flynn cut himself off intentionally. On one hand, he felt bad for lying to Hanks, but on the other, he was still pissed. Hanks, as predicted, opened his eyes and looked at Flynn, one bushy eyebrow raised into his hairline. "He's been what now, son?"  
  
Flynn made himself look flustered rather than frustrated. "You know how Yuri is. He doesn't like being open, but he's been working on that a lot in the past two years. Maybe he's willing to drink again as part of that, but being Yuri—"  
  
"He had to say in the most roundabout way he knew how," Hanks finished, shaking his head and chuckling. "That boy never changes."  
  
"I wouldn't presume to know what he's thinking," Flynn said quickly. There was guilt and trepidation bubbling up his gut, but his annoyance and pure spite overrode it. "I might be wrong."  
  
Hanks patted Flynn's shoulder. "Come now, Flynn. Give yourself a little more credit. There's no two people in the world who know each other as well as you and Yuri do. He must have told you those things for a reason." Hanks removed his hand and gave what Flynn thought was a rather menacing cackle. "Besides, I know everyone who'll be there tonight would love to see him be too wasted to smart mouth back when we talk to him, hahaha!"  
  
There was a different reason for the trepidation now. "R-right. Well then, Hanks, I was about to go back to the castle to fetch something. I'll see you later tonight."  
  
"That's fine," Hanks said. "I know you've got a lot to do. Just don't overwork yourself," he yelled after Flynn, and Flynn shouted back a thanks as he ran back to the castle and his room.  
  
It was only in the comfort and privacy of his own suite that Flynn remembered the unearthed memories that he had put to the side, preoccupied with his plan for revenge as he was. He sat on his couch, bent over at the waist and arms resting limply on his knees, breathing in and out slowly as he examined them for the first time in years.   
  
Yuri's birthday had come around during the tail end of the three months Yuri had been in the knights. He had acquired several bottle of cheap, strong booze to celebrate. Flynn had known for a while that, for whatever reason, Yuri got more affectionate and open when drunk on his birthday, and he had hoped Yuri would open up and talk to him about things. The first strains on their relationship had started back then, and Flynn, desperate to find some clue to help salvage their friendship before it broke, allowed and encouraged Yuri to drink.  
  
Except instead of finding the answers he wanted, Flynn got a barely coherent confession from Yuri, several desperate kisses, and a revelation drenched in cheap scotch he wasn't ready for. Yuri that night had been desperate, persistent, and so, so tempting. So much so that Flynn ended up afraid, pushing Yuri away and sleeping somewhere else for the night.  
  
They hadn't talked about. They never talked about it. Yet Flynn was certain that Yuri remembered, because he had never forgotten anything he did while drunk, for better or for worse. Their relationship strained even more after that, and Yuri left the knights several weeks later. The next year, they met for his birthday, both Yuri and Flynn stiff and cold towards one another. Yuri did not drink a drop.  
  
That had been the last birthday Yuri spend with Flynn until the Adephagos, until Brave Vesperia, until Aurnion. Yuri didn't drink then either. He apparently hadn't drank ever since that one night.  
  
Guilt was beginning to win. And yet, Flynn thought, prior to that, Yuri had never seemed that bothered by his behavior. Like so many in the lower quarter, Flynn and Yuri started drinking young. Yuri had several years of kisses and compliments thrown his way, and while he grumbled and complained it about it the day after each time, he'd never once stopped the next year.  
  
Until Flynn.  
  
Flynn debated with himself about not going to the party, about just showing up and leaving as early as possible so Yuri wouldn't have to be worried about a more public confession. Yuri had been an ass, but he certainly didn't deserve that sort of humiliation. But at the same time, Flynn remembered all the grief that Yuri gave him, all the work Yuri added to his load, all the rumors that would be working their way from the palace, trickling down like the first thaw of spring into even the lower quarter.  
  
And then there was the matter of how Flynn knew he wouldn't run away from Yuri's confession if it happened a second time.  
  
It somehow seemed fitting that Yuri would find a way to make something as simple as damn birthday party suddenly so complicated.   
  
In the end, he decided that the best thing to do would be to be there for the start of the party, stay long enough to make his point and make Yuri suffer, get the others to convince Yuri to start drinking, then duck out so Yuri wouldn't have the chance to embarrass both of them with an untimely confession. It was a decent enough plan in Flynn's opinion, but there was still something missing.  
  
It was an underhanded move, but Flynn got an idea. As commandant, he had received all sorts of gifts during his promotion ceremony, and included among them were several bottles of expensive wine and liquor. He grabbed two unopened bottles of wine that well known to be expensive and high class, then wrote on them that they were from him. It was, in a sense, a declaration of war, and while Yuri would probably be furious, Flynn was feeling just spiteful enough to go through with it.  
  
Flynn changed out of his armor into something more comfortable and casual, tucked the bottles under his arm, and headed back to the Comet. Karol and Yuri hadn't returned with Raven yet, and so Flynn helped out where he could, hanging decorations, fetching last minute ingredients from the market, and moving tables and chairs. An hour before the party was expected to start, they were done.  
  
The chairs and tables had been moved, with a few additional pieces added. Along the north wall, all of the furniture there had been moved to the south end, and there was a long rectangular table there stocked with presents for Yuri. The barrels and boxes that had littered the Comet for so many years had been cleared out to make room for the moved furniture, and the chairs at the bar counter had been moved as well. The middle of the room had a small, circular table with one chair. That, Flynn was told, was reserved for Yuri.  
  
"He's not going to like being the center of attention like that," he said to Astrid, who had returned from her own errands and was wiping down the counters.  
  
She laughed. "Oh, he won't, but this entire party is in his honor. He'd better get used to it. Besides," she said with a twinkle in her eye, "I heard from Hanks that he might be up for drinking this year. Once he gets enough in him, he won't complain about being the center of attention at all."  
  
Flynn stacked some of the chairs that wouldn't be used in a corner and tried not to feel too bad about tricking her. "Are you looking forward to it?"  
  
"Am I ever," Astrid said. "He sticks around for my lectures, but every time I try to tell him how proud I am of him, he just runs out the door before I can get a second word in. You know how he is — always putting up a front — but I think there's a part of him deep down that likes hearing praise from other people once in a while. Not that he'll ever admit it, which is why it's so important for him to be able to let down his guard and let us tell him how much we care. You understand, don't you, Flynn?"  
  
Flynn did, and he was feeling worse about getting their hopes up over such a lie. "I do."  
  
Guests started trickling in as the sun set, and Flynn went around lighting candles and setting them in places where they hopefully wouldn't be knocked over by any drunken arms. Other than the companions Yuri had traveled with, about a dozen others from the lower quarter were invited, and all of them showed up before Yuri did. They didn't have to wait long, however, and Karol's arrival signaled the return of the birthday boy. The next person to enter was Raven, who looked ragged, and Yuri and Repede brought up the rear.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Yuri," everyone in the tavern shouted when he walked up the steps. He looked around the Comet, eyes shining even though he only looked faintly amused on the outside.  
  
"Hey, not bad," Yuri said. "This place looks good!"  
  
Judith, who had been standing behind the counter with the enormous, three tiered cake, walked out from it, carrying the cake to Yuri's table. Patty and Lady Estellise went up to Yuri and dragged him to it.  
  
"Everyone's worked very hard on this," Lady Estellise said, "so I'm glad you liked it."  
  
"As the birthday boy," Patty said once Yuri was seated, "ye get the seat of honor."  
  
"All to myself, huh," Yuri said, rubbing his chin as if he were deep in contemplation. "Does that mean this cake is all for me, too?"  
  
"Sadly, no, we're sharing." Judith came up and tossed a knife into the air before catching it, twirling the blade between her fingers. "You do get the first slice, though."  
  
The party started from there. Because of the cramped quarters, the circular tables had been pushed close to one another. Since no one wanted to have their back to Yuri, it meant that it would be hard to get out once someone had been seated, with only a narrow space between the chairs and the walls, tight enough only for maybe Karol and Patty to get through easily. Flynn took this into consideration and took a seat on the south wall, next to the counter, where he had at least a small gap to exit from if need be. It was probably the farthest seat from the door, but Judith had claimed that spot, and Flynn wasn't about to contest her for it. Next to Judith sat Patty, then Karol, then Rita, then Lady Estellise right between her and Flynn.   
  
Raven, Flynn noticed, had grabbed a chair and hauled it next to the bar counter.  
  
"No one's supposed to sit there, ye scallywag," Patty shouted from across the way. Raven lifted up a short glass.  
  
"First ya leave this old man to waste away, not knowin' if anyone was even comin' for him, and now ya tell me I can't sit where I want? Cruel, all of ya!"  
  
"Just leave it, Patty," Yuri said in a monotone. "He just wants easy access to the booze."  
  
"Ya darn right, Yuri. Thanks for getting me."  
  
Yuri rolled his eyes and strolled to the table with the gifts. There were, Flynn noticed, a lot of bottles there. Yuri paused for a moment, seemingly taking in the gifts, but even with his back to him, Flynn could tell that Yuri had frozen up.  
  
"Speaking of booze," Yuri said, sounding nonchalant even Flynn could tell he was anything but, "what's with all the liquor here?"  
  
"They're for you, son," Hanks said, leaning against the counter. "We thought it'd be good to revive that grand ol' tradition of saying nice things to you when you're too wasted to talk back!"  
  
The people from the lower quarter burst into laughter. Everyone else looked confused.   
  
"That's not a good tradition," Yuri said, and there was the slightest tinge of annoyance in his tone, too slight for anyone else to notice, but Flynn did. "And what's with some of these drinks? This stuff is super high class, who'd—"  
  
Yuri picked up one of the bottles Flynn had brought. From the way he fell silent, Flynn knew he saw the message and understood. Slowly, he turned around, expression blank, holding the bottle as he looked straight into Flynn's eyes.  
  
"You did this, didn't you?"  
  
Well. It was going to happen sooner or later. "I did," Flynn said, and he watched Yuri narrow his eyes, lips going back to form a snarl.  
  
"Oh, don't get mad at him," Astrid piped up. "I know you're embarrassed, but just drink and let us spoil you for once!"  
  
"I feel plenty spoiled already," Yuri said, but the snarl receded and his face returned to something blank and unreadable. There was a beat, and then Yuri smiled, something like delight lighting up in his eyes. Flynn began to doubt his plans.  
  
"Okay," Yuri said, sloshing the bottle around lightly. "Well, since the great and wonderful Flynn Scifo has a big enough of paycheck to splurge on little old me, it'd be rude to not take advantage of that, wouldn't it?"  
  
Yuri stressed the words "take advantage" slightly. Flynn became afraid.  
  
"Pour me a glass, Astrid," Yuri shouted, handing the bottle over the counter to her. "Tonight, we drink!"  
  
Most of the people in the tavern cheered. Flynn didn't. Karol didn't either, but probably for a different reason than Flynn. Yuri grabbed several other bottles and passed them to Astrid, whispering to her and gesturing at everyone gathered. She smiled, nodded, and beamed as she uncorked the bottles and began pouring out drinks.  
  
The drinks were passed out and handed out to anyone who wanted them, people shouting requests at the bar, and the tavern grew chaotic. Patty pounded her fists on her table and asked for rum. Both she and Karol got orange juice, to which Karol sighed with relief and Patty sighd with dismay. Flynn himself took a small tumbler of gin, and he let it sit, planning on not touching any more than that for the rest of the evening.  
  
Yuri, to his surprise and dread, asked for a sample of four different types of liquor. Astrid put them down on his table amid cheers, and Yuri took the chance to give Flynn a smug, challenging look before downing his first.  
  
Flynn grew increasingly worried.  
  
Food was brought out afterward, and it turned out that Patty had not used the fish for cake. She spoke loudly about spending several days fighting off all manner of beasts from sky and sea, trying to catch a legendary fish that was said to be the tastiest and most difficult to prepare, and whose scales were so beautiful that they were used as jewelry. Flynn very politely did not gag when the sashimi came out and even tried a piece. He still didn't like fish, but from the way other people were gushing about it, Patty had done a marvelous job. As she continued on about the necklace she made, Yuri only half listening and popping a piece of raw fish into his mouth between drinks, Astrid quietly set down a plate of steak in front of Flynn.  
  
"Thank you," Flynn mouthed, since the tavern had grown too loud to speak easily. Astrid only winked at him and patted him kindly on the shoulder, and he felt another surge of guilt for having tricked her and the others into thinking that Yuri had done this of his own accord.   
  
Once Patty had finished her speech and the tavern quieted down so people could eat, Lady Estellise leaned in towards him. "Flynn," she said, "what's going on with Yuri and drinking?"  
  
Flynn's knife fell still, lodged halfway through his steak. "Ah," he said, stalling for time. "It's a long story."  
  
"Is it an embarrassing one?"  
  
She had no idea how on the nose she was. "Kind of? Uh, how should I put this—"  
  
"Hey, Yuri," Rita yelled, "why's it such a big deal if you drink tonight?"  
  
Yuri, who had moved on to cake at the first opportunity, stopped in the middle of a bite. The lower quarter guests burst out into laughter.  
  
"You haven't told them?" Hanks said to Flynn before turning to Yuri. "Neither of you?"  
  
"It must have slipped my mind," Flynn said weakly, the steak suddenly losing its appeal. Across the room, Yuri chewed, swallowed, took a large sip of whatever brown beverage was in his glass, and then stood up.  
  
He wobbled.  
  
"Here's the thing," he started, and Flynn felt a rising sense of dismay as he counted the number of empty glasses on Yuri's table. "I," Yuri began, then paused for a second, "don't like touchy feely stuff. But on this day — and only this day!" Yuri spread his arms out and gestured to everyone in the room, "I will accept praise and glory and admiration from my many admirers and  _like it_."  
  
"Oh, no," Rita groaned. "He's turned into Raven."  
  
"That's rude," Yuri said, glaring at Rita with narrowed eyes at the same time Raven said, "Is that supposed ta be a bad thing?"  
  
Rita leaned back in her seat and did not give an answer. Hanks laughed and pointed at Yuri.   
  
"There's another part, Yuri! You can't forget about that part, since it always ends up being a big deal to someone!"  
  
Flynn was absolutely not going to be that someone tonight. He set down his tumbler and looked around. Most of the lower quarter guests were gathered, frustratingly enough, in between the table he was seated at and the counter. His gap was nonexistent.   
  
"The kissing," Yuri shouted gleefully. "I love the kissing!"  
  
Karol choked on his drink. "The what?!"  
  
"Kiss," Yuri said. "You know, the thing you do with your lips? Wait, Captain Karol, don't tell me you haven't gotten your first kiss yet!"  
  
"That's none of your business," Karol shrieked. "And what do you mean by kissing?!"  
  
"I kiss people," Yuri deadpanned, then leaned to the left too far and stumbled for a second before righting himself. "It's what I do. Anyone's fair game here."  
  
"I'm not," Raven muttered from his corner seat. As he'd been imbibing several drinks himself, however, it came out loudly. Yuri's face lit up, a devious smile stretched across his mouth as he turned around to look at Raven.  
  
"All right," Yuri slurred, "I guess that means you're first, old man."  
  
"What," Raven said, eyes blown wide in panic as he waved his arms in front him while Yuri stalked towards him. "Oh, no. Nonono, you heard what I said! I'm not meant for these type of shenanigans."  
  
"Shenanigans, shemammigans," Yuri said. Then he climbed into Raven's lap, slapped his hands away, grabbed his face and kissed him.  
  
What Flynn had expected was maybe a quick kiss on the lips to shut Raven up and make a point. What Flynn got was Yuri practically making out with him while sitting on his lap. The people from the lower quarter were shouting and laughing. Everyone else, Flynn realized when he picked his jaw off the floor, had fallen deathly silent. That silence was eventually broken when Karol's glass of juice slipped out of his hands and spilled all over the table.  
  
"Wha— Oh, crap," Karol shouted when he realized, and as he gathered up a handful of napkins to soak up the spill, Flynn watched as Yuri suddenly pushed himself back and off of Raven with an exaggerated gasp of breath.  
  
"Woo," Yuri said, stumbling to his feet and wiping his mouth with the back of hand. "Not too shabby."  
  
Raven hadn't moved from when Yuri kissed him, sitting stiffly in the chair, arms askew from Yuri had slapped them to the side. He wore a pained, confused look on his face. Yuri laughed at him.  
  
"What, too much for you to handle?"  
  
Slowly, Raven reached up to grab his chest. "Why," he whined. "Why d'ya have ta pick me ta be the first victim?"  
  
Yuri spun around as he rolled his eyes. "Get over it," he said, and he wobbled slightly as he looked over the crowd. "Anyone else up for a challenge?"  
  
"A challenge, you say," Judith said, rising to her feet and sashaying towards Yuri. "You know how I can't turn that down."  
  
Yuri's eyes lit up when he saw. "Oho! Think you can handle me better than the old man did?"  
  
Judith tapped a finger on her lips as she gave Yuri a contemplative look. "Oh, I know I can, but I don't know how I feel about going right after Raven. It'd be almost like kissing him, you know?"  
  
"Judith, darlin', that's mean," Raven said from his chair. Yuri grabbed a glass of water and drank half of it, swishing and gargling it in his mouth before spitting it back out.  
  
"Now that's just insultin'!" Raven yelled, but Yuri ignored him and smiled at Judith.  
  
"Better?"  
  
"Much better," Judith purred, then lunged forward and grabbed Yuri by the waist. He stumbled, but Judith held him up. She leaned in, kissed him, and then dipped him as they were kissing.  
  
The shouts and cheers from the lower quarter guests grew to a fever pitch. Flynn barely heard it, watching Judith and Yuri locked together in an embrace as they kissed. It was for show — obviously so, since Yuri had kicked one of his feet up into the air, toes pointed out, and one of his arms had been thrown dramatically back behind his head — but they were both clearly into it. When they exchanged tongues, the catcalling and cheers grew so loud that it started to hurt Flynn's ears.  
  
It was time for him to leave. The front entrance was going to be out, as it meant Flynn would have to cross through everyone to get there, but he knew there was a back exit located in the kitchens. That exit led to the dumpsters and a back alley, but it Flynn knew his way well enough around to easily be able to jump the fence at the right spot to take him back on the main path to the palace.  
  
He looked around to figure out the best way to push through the crowd next to him without anyone noticing. Judith had brought Yuri back up by then, and though they had parted, she was still holding him upright by the waist. Yuri, for his part, had a stupid, awed smile on his face.   
  
"Wow," he said. "Woo." A pause. "Damn."  
  
Flynn stopped paying attention for a moment as he saw a small part in the crowd next to the counter. Just as he was going to try to retreat through it, Patty came running. She jumped up and used Flynn's shoulder to hoist herself on top of the table, ran across the table without pause — setting off a chain reaction that managed to violently shake every table down the line — then leapt off before skidding to a stop in front of Yuri.  
  
"Patty, why," Karol cried as he wiped a few drops of orange juice off his face, but Patty gave no response. Flynn, slightly winded being unexpectedly used as a boost, watched Patty as she held her hands behind her back and leaned forward on the balls of her feet.  
  
"I'm next," she said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Come on, Yuri, make a woman outta me."  
  
"What the  _hell_ ," Flynn heard Rita choke out from Lady Estellise's other side. The lower quarter residents jeered and oooed, with Astrid suddenly looking at Patty with recognition in her eyes.  
  
"That's right," Astrid said, sounding far too delighted about the whole situation. "You're the girl that's going to marry our Yuri, aren't you?"  
  
"What," Rita shrieked, and Flynn winced.  
  
"Aye, that's right," Patty nodded, still staring up at Yuri. "Now give your future bride a kiss."  
  
Yuri gave Patty a bewildered look as the lower quarter residents cheered him on. Flynn heard Rita scoff.   
  
"Does anyone else not see anything wrong with this?" Rita said, and Flynn saw Lady Estellise shake her head from the corner of his eye.  
  
“I don't think they're expecting Yuri to kiss Patty like the way he kissed Raven and Judith. ...I hope."  
  
"He better not," Rita mumbled, and Flynn reminded himself that it would be good to leave before either one of them tried to include him in their conversation, making escape impossible.  
  
The crowd beside him still had an opening, so he took it and slowly left the table, taking care not too move too much or jostle anything. As he stood, he watched as Yuri shrugged, said, "Sure, why not," picked up Patty's hat, and kissed her on the top of her head. The crowd burst into laughter as Yuri patted her on the head twice before dropping her hat back on, backwards and askew.  
  
"That doesn't count," Patty cried, but Yuri was already on the move, swaying slightly as he meandered towards the tables. Flynn took a few steps back and put a few bodies between himself and the table, but Yuri's attention was focused on Karol.  
  
"Hey, Karol," Yuri said, "you're up next."  
  
Karol, who was still trying to wipe up his spill, dropped one of the wet napkins he was holding. "What? No! Come on, Yuri, no!"  
  
"It's just a little kiss," Yuri slurred, walking up to him and bending down.   
  
"No," Karol said, throwing one of the juice soaked napkins at him. "I don't want you to be my first kiss! Especially after you've kissed Raven!"  
  
"Everyone needs ta stop bein' mean ta me," Raven yelled from his seat. "Also, I'm tryin' ta forget the kiss happened. Tryin' real hard!"  
  
"This is so embarrassing," Karol whined, and Yuri laughed before moving close and giving him a light peck on the forehead.  
  
"That wasn't so bad, was it? And you can still have your first kiss with Nan!" Yuri asked, ruffling Karol's hair as he got up. Karol yelled loudly about that, and Yuri laughed again, taking a wobbling step back. Before he could move on to his next victim, Repede suddenly shot out from under the tables, barking happily and tail wagging at full speed. He put his front paws on Yuri's chest and licked his face, sending Yuri stumbling back.   
  
"Woah, woah, okay," Yuri said as he nearly toppled over. He knelt down next to Repede and rubbed his side as Repede continued to give him kisses. "Didn't want to be left out, huh, Repede?"  
  
Repede let out a single bark before going back to licking Yuri's face. Flynn took the opportunity to sneak behind the counters, hoping the scene would be enough to distract people from noticing what he was doing.  
  
"That's not hygenic, you know," he heard Rita call out. He turned to just take a glance at what would happen, but ended up watching Yuri gently push Repede off him and stand up.  
  
"Aw, Rita. Are you upset you're being left out?"  
  
"Don't you dare," Rita shouted. "You stay away from me! You're covered in dog drool!"  
  
"So it's the dog drool you're worried about, not the kiss, huh? I knew you always liked me more than you let on."  
  
Flynn couldn't see them clearly, since by this point he had several people in between him and the table, but he could see Yuri walk up, lean over the table, and then kiss Rita on the cheek before turning his head slightly and rubbing their cheeks together.  
  
"Ugh, gross! Stop getting it on me," Rita screamed. "I'll kill you!"  
  
Flynn was almost to the kitchen door when someone grabbed his arm.  
  
"What's this," Judith said quietly into his ear. "Leaving so soon? But you haven't had your turn yet."  
  
Flynn froze and swallowed nervously. He turned, slowly, to face her, and the dangerous hint of a smile on her face made him nervous.  
  
"It seems like the party's going well enough," he said, the crowd laughing in response to something Rita had apparently thrown at Yuri. "I have a lot of work to do in the morning, so—"  
  
"Mmmhmm," Judith said, obviously not believing him. "Why do I get the feeling that you're running away?"  
  
"I"m not," Flynn lied. Yuri had moved on to Lady Estellise now, and she stood and curtsied as he bowed. They kissed one another on each cheek, curtsied and bowed again, and then burst out into laughter before she reached over the table and hugged him. "I just really don't have time for—"  
  
Judith cut him off and grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him through the gap in the counters and into the clearing at the center of the room. "Yuri," she shouted, catching the attention of everyone there, "we've got a runner!"  
  
Yuri broke out of the hug, and Flynn watched as his expression went neutral for a split second before he broke out into a wide, shit-eating grin.  
  
"Well, well, Commandant," he slurred, swaying over to where Judith had pushed Flynn. "Trying to run, huh? Not very commandant...y of you."  
  
"I have affairs to tend to in the morning," Flynn said quietly, not wanting any more attention than they already had. "I really should go."  
  
"No," Yuri said under his breath, just loud enough for Flynn to hear and with a lot more clarity than Flynn expected, "I don't think you should."  
  
Flynn looked at Yuri's eyes — at the determination, the focus, the undeniable clarity — and terror crept up his spine while what trace amounts of amusement over the situation he had drained out his feet. Yuri was not nearly as drunk as he made himself act, and Flynn was fucked.  
  
"Come on, Commandant," Yuri slurred loudly so everyone would hear, just a touch too slovenly on his vowels to be authentic, and Flynn mentally kicked himself for not noticing earlier, "you can't leave yet! The party's just getting started!"  
  
"It would be unbecoming for me to be seen drunk in the streets," Flynn said, voice clear and composed despite the nervousness churning in his gut. "And again, I have duties—"  
  
"Yeah, whatever," Yuri said, approaching with strides far too purposeful for a drunk person, and how had no one else not yet noticed what Flynn had? "Are you afraid to get smooched? Come on," Yuri added as a few people laughed, "this isn't even your first time kissing me."  
  
The bar oohed and aahed at that proclamation, but Flynn recognized it for the bait it was.  
  
"Yuri," he said with all the exasperation he could muster from his nerves, "you're making a fool of yourself."  
  
Yuri smiled and took a step forward. "Takes one to know one. Now pucker up."  
  
Flynn did try to flee at that, but Judith was behind him. The moment he started to move back, she shoved him forward into Yuri's arms. Her quiet, delighted chuckle was the last thing Flynn heard before Yuri caught him and planted his lips onto Flynn's.  
  
Just because he had lost the battle, however, didn't mean Flynn had to lose the war.  
  
Despite's Yuri's best attempts at coaxing his mouth open — despite the warmth of the tongue licking at the seams of his lips, going over the dry, chapped patches and the tiny cracks like a healing caress, gently seeking permission with a tenderness Flynn didn't dare to even think about in his fantasies — Flynn refused him entrance. He stood stiffly, ramrod straight and so tense that it had to be obvious that it was intentional. Yuri gripped him more tightly, bore him closer to himself, yet Flynn did not react. He ignored the jaunts and catcalls, stood his ground, and refused to give in.  
  
When Yuri finally pulled back, lips glistening with saliva and faced flushed with frustration instead of lust, Flynn did not relax. Yuri wasn't the type to give up, and so he was prepared for the fist Yuri threw at his stomach, catching it with ease as everyone else laughed about it, with a few people like Lady Estellise chiding Yuri for trying to punch Flynn.  
  
What Flynn did not expect, however, was for Yuri to kick him in the shins. He really should have worn his armor out.  
  
"Ow," Flynn tried to say, but the moment he opened his mouth, Yuri dove back in, paying no mind to the fact that Flynn still had a hold of his fist. His free hand pulled Flynn in by the neck, and the touch and sensation of Yuri's tongue in his mouth, trying to wrap around his own in a clumsy attempt at making Flynn reciprocate was too much. He stumbled backwards, Yuri chasing him and refusing to let them part. Flynn let go of Yuri's fist at that, trying not to fall backwards as Yuri continued to push closer in, using his newly freed hand to grab Flynn by the waist and pull him in even closer. It was too fast, too much, too soon. Flynn was going to tumble backwards, and his hands groped uselessly at his side for something to hold on to when they backed into a pair of hands. Those hands gripped Flynn's shoulders, pushed him upright and even more into Yuri, and Yuri took that chance to plaster the two of them even closer still, so that there was nothing but their own clothes separating the two.  
  
Flynn heard Judith laugh in delight, and he felt his face flame up as he realized it was she the two of them had stumbled into. He could no longer ignore the reactions of the people around them. Most were cheering and catcalling, seemingly urging Yuri on despite how obscene the two of them must have looked. A few were letting choked cries of shock and astonishment. Lady Estellise, much to Flynn's mortification, could be heard shouting hurrahs and clapping.  
  
Flynn tried, desperately, to take back control of himself, but Yuri's kiss had begun to morph from what was akin to an attack to something more intimate. His tongue and lips were no longer trying to part Flynn's defenses like some sort of weapon, and his touch, too, was no longer trying to detain and confine him. Now Yuri kissed — properly kissed — Flynn in a manner that was more sedate yet no less passionate. His grip changed from a hold to a caress, and Flynn could not help but to match Yuri's change, the tension flowing out of his body as he gave in. He felt himself loosening up, responding to Yuri's kiss, and even though a part of him was mortified by the fact that the others were noticing and the catcalls were turning into awkward throat clearings, the greater part of him did not care.  
  
They broke for air, and even if the bar had not quieted from shock, Flynn would still have paid them no mind. Yuri leaned back in, and this time Flynn met him halfway. He wrapped one of his arms around Yuri, feeling the muscles shift as Yuri responded to his movements, and his other hand went to cup Yuri's cheek, to hold him close and encourage him further. Yuri, for his part, shifted his hands, caressing Flynn as he moved the hand on Flynn's neck to his shoulder, pushing down in a way that put pleasant pressure on Flynn's muscles. The hand around Flynn's waist drew closer to his front, to where the two of them were pressed together, and then made its way into Flynn's jacket, where his—   
  
Wait.  
  
Flynn snapped his head back and only saw Yuri's smug smile for a split second before Yuri whirled around, shoving Flynn away, Flynn's wallet held high in his hands.  
  
"Round of drinks on the Commandant," he roared, and he ran over to the bar and threw Flynn's wallet at the counter. "Drinks for everyone!"  
  
It took both Flynn and the rest of the tavern a moment to catch up with what Yuri had done. Yuri, for his part, was trying to climb over the bar, nearly kicking Raven in the face.  
  
"Yuri, you know the drinks are on the house," Astrid yelled, moving from behind the counter to behind the bar. "And get your feet off those counters!"  
  
She hit him with a towel a few times once he made it over the bar. Yuri shielded his head with his arms and Flynn's wallet, laughing all the while. Flynn watched this, the shock fading away for pure rage, and he clenched his fists and felt himself shake before letting it all out.  
  
"YURI," he roared, and nearly all of the guests whipped their heads around to stare at him. Flynn was beyond caring. "Do you want to be arrested on your birthday?!"  
  
Lady Estellise rose to her feet and reached out for him, nearly throwing herself over the table in her haste. "Flynn! Please, I'm sure it was all in good fun!"  
  
"Yeah, Flynn," Yuri said, walking towards Flynn with something like victory gleaming in his eyes, throwing Flynn's wallet up and catching it again, "relax a little. Besides, I don't think you need to worry about a round of drinks if you're making enough money to be splurging on the good booze."  
  
Flynn tried to reign himself in, reminding himself over and over again that it was Yuri's birthday, that it wouldn't be right to punch him in the face on his birthday, that he was losing his composure because he had somehow lost in plotting vengeance and  _why_ did Yuri always have to be such a shithead—   
  
"What's wrong?" Yuri goaded, leaning forward and not even bothering to pretend he was drunk any more. "Did my kisses leave you speechless?"  
  
Yuri was a dead man. Flynn yelled again and lunged, aiming a fist at Yuri's face, but Yuri was faster, ducking underneath Flynn's arm and jabbing him hard in the side with an elbow. Flynn spun, leg out and ready to kick Yuri in the back, but Yuri went sideways and barely dodged, running into Raven in the process.  
  
"Woahwoahwoah," Raven shouted, spilling his drink all over himself. "Calm down, the both of ya! Or at least fight somewhere farther away from me!"  
  
"Sorry, old man," Yuri said, not sounding apologetic at all as he threw and caught Flynn's wallet again as a taunt. "I'll try not to use you as a meat shield."  
  
"Meat shield?!" Raven whined, and then Yuri leapt towards Flynn.   
  
They fought hard and fast, blood pumping fast in Flynn's body and drowning out the shouts and jeers from his friends and Repede's loud, raucous barking. Distantly, as if across a vast chasm, he could hear Lady Estellise shouting for them both to stop, but Yuri's smirk was infuriating and Flynn had no will power left to hold back. They exchanged blows a few times, both of them too stubborn and fired up to stop, and the fight would have continued for longer if not for someone grabbing them both by the scruff of their necks and pulling them apart.  
  
"Boys," Astrid boomed, and years of experience made Flynn freeze up and fall still, arms going stiffly to his side as he stood up straight and panted for breath. "There will be no fighting," Astrid said, tightening her grip ever so slightly before releasing them both, "in my establishment."  
  
She turned to Flynn. Flynn took a breath and held it. "Flynn, I expected better from you. Attacking Yuri on his birthday like that! Apologize!"  
  
Flynn suddenly felt ten again. "I-I'm sorry for punching you on your birthday, Yuri."  
  
"And you, Yuri," Astrid said, turning her attention to him, "apologize for stealing Flynn's wallet and return it!"  
  
He and Yuri exchanged fearful looks. "Sorry for stealing your wallet, Flynn," Yuri said, then stuck out his arm stiffly to present Flynn with his wallet. Flynn slowly accepted it and pocketed it. He only let out a breath and relaxed when Astrid stepped back.  
  
"There we go," she said. "Now both of you behave! I'm not above throwing the two of you out!"  
  
The rest of the party was decidedly more muted after that. Flynn ended up staying for the rest of the night, too ashamed to leave, and had to deal with everyone's professed shock at seeing him lose his temper like that. Whatever happened beyond that was a blur, as Flynn was lost in his own thoughts, and whenever he wasn't, he had to deal with the obvious disappointment Lady Estellise was projecting at him.  
  
Yuri managed consciousness for only two more hours before he passed out. Whether he actually was out or not, Flynn didn't know and didn't care, but that was the signal for the end of the party. People slowly filed out, and Flynn apologized to Astrid by staying to help clean up. Karol was one of the first to leave, yawning and citing too much excitement for one night, Rita following shortly after. Raven drank himself to unconsciousness shortly after Yuri passed out, and Judith hauled him out by the legs. Raven woke up after his head smacked against the first step, and while he complained loudly about his treatment, Judith didn't stop and continued dragging him out the door. Patty helped clean up the kitchen, and Lady Estellise helped gather dishes and take down decorations. Eventually, even they left, and Flynn was left with only Astrid and Yuri, Repede dozing beneath Yuri's table.  
  
"After all these years," Astrid said, looking at Yuri fondly, "neither of you have changed much."  
  
Flynn set aside the broom he was using and sighed. "I really am sorry about tonight."  
  
Astrid waved him off. "It's easier to stop you now than it was ten years ago," she said. "And in a way, I'm glad to see that both of you can still fight like that." In a more somber tone of voice, she said: "We were worried for a long time, you know, when Yuri left the knights and you two stopped talking as much. Didn't think anything could pull the two of you apart. You don't know how happy we were when we saw you two going around during that disaster. Made even the monster in the sky less frightening, knowing the two of you were together again."  
  
Flynn tried and failed to hold back a blush. "I hadn't realized there were so many people invested in our friendship."  
  
Astrid shot him a look Flynn was uncomfortable with deciphering. "You boys were the pride of the lower quarter. We're all so proud of you both."  
  
Flynn ducked his head, face burning. "Thank you," he said, trying not tear up. "It means a lot to me. I know it means a lot to Yuri, too."  
  
Astrid patted him on the head gently. "I'm sure he's proud of you too," she said quietly to him. "As much as I know you're proud of him. Don't let go of one another."  
  
"I won't," Flynn promised, and he meant it. "I swear."  
  
She patted him gently on the face and made him tilt his head up before kissing him softly on the cheek. "Now take him home," she said. "I love him, but I'm not about to let Yuri sleep in my tavern like that!"  
  
She walked over to Yuri's prone from and whacked his arm with a towel. Yuri shot up, eyes wide. "Hurrnnaf," he said, blinking repeatedly in the dim candlelight. "Wha...?"  
  
"Go home, Yuri," Astrid said, shaking her head. "Flynn'll help you out."  
  
Yuri was absolutely no help to Flynn in getting him out of the Comet, however. Flynn swung one of Yuri's arms around his shoulder, letting Yuri lean on Flynn for support, but Yuri kept swaying and staggering down the steps, making the process take far longer than it should. Once they were outside and the Comet door closed, however, Yuri went motionless, slumped on Flynn and making Flynn bear all his weight.   
  
Flynn gritted his teeth and bore the weight, half dragging Yuri around to the back of the Comet. Repede whined at Flynn, almost like he was apologizing on Yuri's behalf, and followed behind them as they made their way to the back. Rather than climb the stairs with him, though, Flynn stopped and took a breath.  
  
"You can stop pretending now," Flynn said, but there was no response from Yuri. "I'll drag you up the stairs and throw you down if you don't."  
  
There were a few seconds of silence before Yuri peeled himself off Flynn's side, scowling as he straightened his clothes.  
  
"Are we going to talk?" Flynn asked. Yuri responded by stomping up the stairs, and Flynn matched his scowl as he followed him. "Yuri."  
  
"What's there to talk about," Yuri said in a carefree tone of voice that clashed with his foul expression. "I still have hours to go before it stops being my birthday, and I sure as hell don't want to finish it with a lecture from you."  
  
Yuri leaned against his door, glaring at Flynn in front of him. Below them, Repede huffed loudly in the night and turned and headed away from the inn, probably to lodge with someone else for the night rather than put up with his owners. Flynn couldn't blame him.  
  
"Are you going to go in," Flynn said, temper flaring in the cool spring night, "or are we going to yell outside, where anyone can hear us."  
  
"Like my fucking walls are thick enough to hide your voice," Yuri snapped, but he turned around and opened the door. Flynn kept it open with one arm, just in case Yuri tried to slam it shut on him, and only closed it when he was completely in the room.  
  
Yuri threw himself onto his bed, kicking his boots off and letting them lay in a pile on the floor. "All right; get it over with."  
  
Flynn breathed in deep, but found that he couldn't think of what to say. There was so many things he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to confront Yuri about that he hadn't a clue where to start. The night was short, he still needed rest before the morning, and Yuri was just as foul tempered as he was.   
  
Flynn settled with, "Why?" It could have been asking about anything. Lord Melron. The rumors that Yuri hadn't tried quelling. The absurd lengths he went to get Flynn to stop planning. Pretending to be drunk at the party.   
  
Yuri gave an answer to a question Flynn hadn't expected to be answered. "You rejected me and never brought it up again. I didn't think you wanted to talk about it."   
  
The question Yuri decided to answer, apparently, was about why they never talked about that distressing, miserable night all those years ago.   
  
In the end, that was the root of all of his questions, wasn't it? Everything that had transpired in the past few days was really a much delayed reaction to a single night Flynn had determinedly buried and mostly forgotten about. If it hadn't been for Hanks making a simple comment — if Hanks hadn't run across Flynn before the party — Flynn might have been completely lost on the answer Yuri had given him.   
  
But Yuri, it seemed, had never buried it the same way that Flynn had. Or if he had, it was unearthed far earlier by Flynn himself. Just as how that memory led to Flynn's failed revenge plot, Yuri must have been motivated by the same thing in the same way.  
  
Sometimes they thought too much alike.  
  
"I was afraid," Flynn said. Yuri had spread himself out on his back, legs and arms spread wide, but Flynn found a spot on the corner of his bed and sat on it, clasping his hands together and staring at them as he chose his words. "You aren't the type of person to—confess. I thought you were drunk out of your mind."  
  
"I was," Yuri said, staring at the ceiling. "And honestly, I think you did the right thing."  
  
"Rejecting you?"  
  
Yuri snorted. "Like we would have survived everything that followed if we'd been together."  
  
Flynn stared at him. "You don't think we could have?"  
  
"Not a chance. You're a romantic at heart and I almost phrased it as 'if we'd been fucking' instead. A break up would have destroyed us."  
  
Flynn grabbed a fistful of Yuri's sheets. "I don't think it would have."  
  
Yuri sighed and kicked him lightly. "Come on, Flynn, don't get pig headed about this. It's in the past. What's done is done. You understand now, don't you?"  
  
Flynn clenched his fist but let go of the sheets, smoothing them over as Yuri settled on his side, back facing Flynn. "I didn't mean to stick around as long as I did," he said after a moment of silence. "I was going to leave as early as possible. I wasn't hoping for a repeat."  
  
"You didn't get one," Yuri said blandly.  
  
"No, I mean..." Flynn sighed and leaned back, bracing himself on his arms. "I wasn't trying to be that sort of malicious. I wouldn't do that to you. I wanted you to be embarrassed by all the praise everyone would be giving you, and I wanted you to know that I did it, but ideally I would have left before then. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted, but you still got me back pretty good."  
  
"Thank Astrid. I told her some lie about how I wanted to experience the praise sober, and she diluted all the drinks for me. I think I had maybe two and a half glasses all night? Maybe less, since some of those were just water."  
  
"That explains a lot," Flynn muttered his breath, then looked at Yuri. Even with his back to him, Flynn's position allowed him to see a bit of Yuri's profile. From what he could see, Yuri's face was far more neutral than Flynn had thought it would be. Whether that was from Yuri purposefully trying to repress himself or not, Flynn had no idea, but he felt guilty nonetheless. "I'm sorry," he said, putting as much sincerity as he could behind his words. "I really am. I was just so angry."  
  
Yuri shifted, turning his head towards the pillow and letting his hair cover up what Flynn could see. "So was I," Yuri said, "when I first heard you were planning a party for me."  
  
"I didn't remember at the time."  
  
"Not about that, you idiot." Yuri sighed, sending some of the hair on his face fluttering to the side. "Honestly, I didn't think about that night at all until later on. What I'm still angry about is this." Yuri lifted and arm and gestured between the two of them.   
  
"You're angry about us?"  
  
"I'm angry," Yuri said with the tone of one who didn't want to say what he was about to say, "because I feel like sometimes I'm your top priority."  
  
The flash of anger that spread through his body at those words gave Flynn a sudden sharp clarity into what Yuri must have felt.  
  
"I wouldn't," he said, and he didn't bother hiding the shaking temper in his voice. "How could you even think that I'd forget our dream?"  
  
"I know that, logically," Yuri said, voice just short of shouting. "But sometimes, when I'm with you and I see all the little things you go out of your way to do for me—"  
  
"I care about you," Flynn shouted, twisting so that he was half on the bed now. "I want to do nice things for you because I care about you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw everything away for you." It hurt Flynn to think about why Yuri would think that way. "Do you not trust me?"  
  
"I said I knew it logically, you asshole," Yuri shouted, flopping back on his back as he pulled out his pillow from beneath him and hit Flynn in the face with it. "I do trust you! I know you're not so sentimental as to compromise our goals for me, but— Ugh. I don't want to explain."  
  
"Too bad," Flynn said, ripping the pillow off his face and throwing it right back, "because I'm going make you!"  
  
They wrestled for a while. As the pillow was the only weapon they had, they primarily fought over it, taking it from the other only to have it stolen again after a few good wallops. Inevitably, they fell to the floor, Yuri landing on Flynn as his head hit the wood boards with a thunk.  
  
"Okay, enough," Flynn said, wincing as he lifted his head. "I forgot how hard this floor was."  
  
Yuri hit him again anyway. Flynn batted the pillow away to find Yuri smiling triumphantly over him. Flynn shoved him off and then laid back down on the floor, gently this time, and took a few deep breaths. Next to him, Yuri set the pillow down and joined Flynn. The two of them laid like that for a few minutes, surrounded in silence and each other's company.  
  
Yuri broke the silence.   
  
"If I got drunk right now and confessed to you, would you reject me again?"  
  
Flynn figured out the answer to that earlier that day. "I would because you were drunk. But I'd talk to you about it this time, when you sobered up."  
  
"And if I confessed again then?"  
  
Flynn smiled. "You wouldn't. Not directly. But I'd get what you mean. I would accept it."  
  
Silence fell over them again. It should have been awkward or tense, but it felt freeing. Cleansing. For the first time in several days, Flynn felt at peace.  
  
Flynn didn't know how much time passed before he felt the back of Yuri's hand brush up next to his. "I can't be your top priority," Yuri said. Flynn pushed back slightly so that their arms were touching.  
  
"I can't be yours, either. Not until everyone is smiling."  
  
"Not until we've reached the end of our paths."  
  
"Not until we've both carried our burdens to the end."  
  
"Not until we've faced both our enemies and our friends with pride."  
  
In the silence and darkness of Yuri's room, they clasped hands and squeezed, once, before letting go.  
  
Yuri rose first, taking his pillow with him and tossing it onto his bed without so much as dusting it off. "Come on," he said, holding out a hand. "You should be getting back."  
  
Flynn took it and let Yuri help him up. "Probably don't want those rumors to get any more out of control, huh?"  
  
Yuri had the decency to look a little ashamed. "Yeah, about that. I'm taking off again tomorrow, so you're going to have to squash those on your own."  
  
Flynn gave him a scathing look, but Yuri was unaffected. "How did I know you were going to pull something like that on me?"  
  
"We know each other too well," Yuri said, smiling and hitting Flynn playfully in the shoulder. "I think you ought to be able to get it under control."  
  
"You really underestimate the power of gossip in that place."  
  
"You'll be fine," Yuri said, then shoved him not so gently towards the door. "Now get going."  
  
"I will, but there's just one more thing," Flynn said. Yuri's face took on a curious expression, and Flynn held back a smile as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Yuri's.  
  
It was chaste and lasted only an instant, but Flynn filled it with promise. When he pulled back, Yuri's mouth fell open slightly and he stared into Flynn's eyes. Flynn wasn't sure what he found there, but Yuri smiled so soft and sweetly afterwards that Flynn didn't care, so long as Yuri was happy with what he saw.  
  
"Happy birthday, Yuri," Flynn whispered. "Good night."  
  
He left Yuri's room without looking back and went down the stairs without stopping. The scent of sweet flowers wafted faintly through the night air. Spring was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I babbled about the fic [here](https://eccentricity.dreamwidth.org/11935.html), but the short version is: I rushed it, the hanging plot points will lead to somewhere if I'm not lazy, I could have rewritten this whole story to be just the last chapter and it would've been _fine_.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with it, everyone <3


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